Homeland Party (United Kingdom)
British far-right political party From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Homeland Party (HP) is a far-right political party in the United Kingdom.[13][11][14] It was founded as a splinter of the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative in April 2023 by Kenny Smith,[10] and registered as a party in January 2024.[13] A part of the British fascist movement, it has been described as the largest fascist group in the UK.[6][15][7][16]
Homeland Party
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|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | HP |
| Chairman | Kenny Smith[1] |
| Founded | 20 April 2023[2] |
| Registered | 31 January 2024[3] |
| Split from | Patriotic Alternative[4] |
| Headquarters | Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland[3] |
| Membership | 750[5] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | |
| Colours |
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| House of Commons | 0 / 650 |
| Councillors in England | 0 / 17,546 |
| Website | |
| homelandparty | |
History
Summarize
Perspective
The Homeland Party was formed predominantly by Scottish members who had left the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative (PA) over differences stemming from strict member verification and political ambitions of electoral politics through a registered party championed by Kenny Smith, PA and Homeland are ideologically similar and ideological differences were notably not a reason for the split.[7][1][14][6] Smith, the chairman of Homeland, founded the party in April 2023, the inaugural meeting being held on 20 April 2023, Adolf Hitler's birthday.[1][2][17] Smith was previously the national administration officer for PA, and the head of administration and an unsuccessful electoral candidate for the fascist British National Party (BNP).[15] According to Searchlight magazine, in 2023 Alek Yerbury had left PA and formed a new militant group named the National Support Detachment.[18] Within a month, Smith also left and formed the new organisation Homeland, attracting many members of PA to join. Homeland espouses the white genocide conspiracy theory and other far-right beliefs such as remigration, though it publicly uses innocuous messaging and downplays its neo-Nazi connections.[14][7][19][20]
The party's other registered officers also have connections with PA. Jerome O'Reilly is the Welsh regional organiser and Anthony Burrows the East Midlands regional organiser.[21][22] Burrows, a Blackwell, Bolsover parish councillor from Alfreton in Derbyshire, has posted photographs of Hitler and David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, on his Twitter account and had his shotguns confiscated and a gun licence refused for sharing terrorist literature and manifestos and for sympathising with violence against minorities.[6][23] Simon Shepherd, another Homeland founding member and formerly a member of the PA, was involved with Ashley Podsiad-Sharp and his neo-Nazi White Stag Athletic Club and with PA's fascist fitness club which was founded and headed by Kristofer Kearney and Smith.[24][7] Podsiad-Sharp and Kearney hosted The Absolute State of Britain (TASOB) podcast, founded by Sharp, which "has consistently featured explicit racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, veneration of Hitler, and apologism for Nazi atrocities and right-wing terrorism."[25] Both of them have been convicted and sentenced to prison for possessing and disseminating terrorist material.[26][27]
The group first attempted to register as a political party in May 2023, but its application was rejected.[28][failed verification] Complaints were raised by the Home Office to the Electoral Commission, after a leaked audio of Smith which detailed a plan that Homeland might try to register under fake or proxy names for the party and its officers to hide its connections with known white supremacists.[20][7] It was registered as a political party in January 2024,[3] which PA had failed to do seven times due to discriminatory internal party rules that violated UK equality laws.[15][14][6]
In April 2023 Judge Manley ruled against Alec Cave, a senior member of the party, in an employment tribunal relating to comments made by him about the actor John Boyega, who is a Black Briton.[29] In her ruling Judge Manley said of Cave's views, "This is not just a belief that is shocking, offensive or disturbing to others, though it may well be all those things. It is a belief that, in at least some respects, is akin to Nazism."[30][21]
In October 2023 it was reported that David Gardner, a member of the party and the treasurer of Forfar Community Council, had made racist and antisemitic comments and had taken part in a neo-Nazi Telegram channel under the pseudonym "Gordon Freeman", along with other Homeland activists.[11][31] Later in October 2023 it was reported that James Munro, Jordon Murphy and Robert Bisset, members of the party, had been involved in the neo-Nazi group Scottish Nationalist Society.[32] Another Homeland activist, Liam Hart (a.k.a. Liam Connor), is involved in the neo-Nazi music scene Blood & Honour.[14]
In 2024 Homeland began to recruit fascist social media influencers, including “You Kipper”, a propagandist for the British fascist politician Oswald Mosley, and the Nazi-apologist YouTuber Sam Wilkes (a.k.a. Zoomer Historian) a follower of the Holocaust-denier David Irving.[8][33] In March of the same year, Jamie Brown, Invergowrie and Kingoodie community council chairman and Homeland member, was revealed to have made numerous antisemitic statements and slurs.[9]
In September 2024 the Homeland Party held its annual conference in Derbyshire with guest speakers from the far-right European parties Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Confederation Liberty and Independence, which was met with protests after it was publicised by the anti-fascist group Red Flare.[8]
In October 2024 Homeland merged with Identity England, a small English branch of the far-right Identitarian movement.[34]
In March 2025 senior members of the Homeland Party travelled to Germany. Whilst there they sent a delegation to the Bundestag, were hosted by AfD and received media training from them.[35]
Election results
UK local elections
| Year | Council | Ward | Candidate | Votes | % | Position | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Hart District | Hartley Wintney | Roger Robertson[36] | 355 | 13.5% | Hart District Councillor[37] | 3rd |
References
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